Neera Harripersad, 24, took home the $50,000 first prize at the finals of the Sangeet Pradarshan Hindi Film singing competition on Saturday night (Republic Day) at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Cultural Cooperation in San Juan.
Harripersad, a resident of Chaguanas, beat a field of 13 fellow finalists with her rendition of Lata Mangeshkar’s classic Sanam Tu Bewafa from the movie Khilona.
Harripersad was an underdog at the event and was the last contestant to sing before the panel of judges. She made it to the semi-final round but was not chosen by the judges for the finals. However, she and three other competitors were given a second chance by the production team to be part of the finals.
Harripersad was elated by her win.
“I don’t even know how to feel, I am very humbled and proud. I worked very hard for this competition. I participated in several competitions before but I never placed, I give thanks to God for bringing me so far.”
Harripersad said she has no formal vocal training and does not speak Hindi. She started singing in her family band Melotones New Generation Orchestra when she was 14 and was given an opportunity to sing with T&TEC Guyantone by Capil Guyadeen, the leader of Guyatones, in 2018 after her performance at the Divali Nagar celebrations.
Randy Baitali, of Suriname, took home the $30,000 second prize and T&T’s Akshay Khandoo took home the $20,000 third prize.
The show featured the talents of both local and foreign artistes from Guyana, Suriname, Canada and the United States.
Surujdeo Mangroo, executive producer of NeeLeeJi Entertainment, the organisation hosting the show, said the Hindi Foundation of T&T Incorporated and See-Vu Emporium Optical have given the commitment to sponsor the first and third place prizes respectively for the next five years.
The competition began on July 4 and several preliminary rounds were held locally and in countries where the Indian Diaspora settled in the Western Hemisphere. Mangroo said when the competition was launched, thousands of applications to participate came in from India and surrounding countries, leaving the producers with little choice but to limit entries in 2022. Mangaroo said Sangeet Pradarshan aims to raise the bar, especially with local singing so that young people can develop a fruitful career with this art form.
“We want to create a new generation of artistes in T&T and in the diaspora who can not only perform locally but abroad. The market for Hindi songs is tremendous and we want our talented young people to tap into their tremendous potential as we start thinking on a global stage.”
Mangroo is already looking ahead to next year’s competition and announced a change in venue for the finals, as it will be held at the NCIC Nagar in 2023.